Community Tasting Note

• ricard Likes this wine: 95 points

  August 2, 2020 - Viña Ardanza is the epitome of classical Rioja. Rich, generous, vibrant Tempranillo fruit, gentle oak, perfect sweetness, perfect acidity and pure elegance. But Selección Especial is where it really shines. La Rioja Alta make this only in occasional, outstanding vintages. The 2010 is shaping up to be a classic. At 10 years, it's still full of the vigour of youth. I don't doubt that this wine will still be giving pleasure at 50 years of age. After all, I'm 52 and I've heard rumours that I still give pleasure, so if I can achieve that, so can this wine. The colour is a dark red ruby with hints of inky blue and no orange tint of age whatsoever. Fragrance is wonderful: blackberry, cassis, nutmeg, vanilla. Tannins soft and silky. Perfect structure, long and luscious finish. There's a lot more to come. When it ages, we're going to see tertiary notes - spices and fruit compote. For now, the wine tastes great, is a stunner, in fact. Another great virtue of this wine: it is amazing in every decade of its lifecycle.

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3 Comments

• ohne_musik commented:

  8/4/20, 10:09 AM - FWIW, I had a 1970 Ardanza a couple years ago and it was still going strong.

• ricard commented:

  8/4/20, 10:13 AM - Hi @ohne_musik - I can totally believe that!

• jonboy74 commented:

  8/7/20, 8:51 PM - great review. glad to know you are still a pleasure making machine at 50+!!!

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